This invention relates to a guide sleeve for the rod of a neck rest.
Such guide sleeves are usually made of plastic material. They are inserted into the back rest of a seat and serve for accommodating the rod of a neck rest which is intended to be locked in the guide sleeve in certain rest positions. It is known to arrange an actuating slide in an enlargement at the upper end of the guide sleeve, which cooperates with a spring or a similar detent member which cooperates with the notches of the neck rest rod so as to lock it in a pre-set position. Such guide sleeves operate satisfactorily, but have the drawback that the expenditure in mounting is relatively high.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to create a guide sleeve for the rod of a neck rest in automobile vehicles, which causes a lower expenditure in mounting.
In conventional guide sleeves, a metallic spring is mostly used as a locking member, which requires to be brought to its shape in an appropriate stamping and bending procedure and which subsequently is mounted along with the actuating element. In the invention, however, a locking portion is disposed at the lower end of a deflection lever. The deflection lever extends parallel to the axis of the guide sleeve outside and is rotatably supported about an axis between the ends, which extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The deflection lever is biased by spring means so that the spring biases the locking portion against the rod. The deflection lever is coupled to the actuating element at the upper end so that when the actuating element is actuated the lever may be pivoted in such a way that the locking portion gets out of engagement with a recess of the back rest rod.
In an aspect of the invention, the spring is formed by a ring of elastic material which encircles the sleeve and the deflection lever at the lower end. Preferably, the ring is disposed in groove portions of the deflection lever and the sleeve. The ring may be, for example, an O-ring or a spring washer of elastic material. In another aspect of the invention, coupling between the deflection lever and the actuating element may be effected in a way that an upper end portion of the deflection lever engages a recess or through hole of the actuating element. The actuating element may be plate-shaped and may be movable in a slide-like way in an appropriate recess of the upper enlargement of the guide sleeve. Because the neck rest rod must not impede the necessary motion of the actuating element the actuating element is preferably provided with an elongate hole.
Various possible designs are imaginable for the construction of the deflection lever. According to the invention, one is that the deflection lever is matched to the outer contour of the guide sleeve and partically encircles the guide sleeve. The deflection lever may have a bearing projection at both longitudinal sides which is rounded at the end thereof and engages a correspondingly formed bearing recess of the guide sleeve.
In order to prevent the actuating element from unintentionally being moved out of the enlargement of the guide sleeve or the upper end of the deflection lever from unintentionally being pivoted away from the guide sleeve a window is provided, in an aspect of the invention, in the deflection lever above the support axis wherein a protrusion of the guide sleeve extends through the window. The protrusion serves for as an attachment or fixation means in the back rest structure. In an aspect of the invention, the deflection lever has a second window below the support axis wherein at least one protrusion extends through the window. Even this one forms a fixation means in the back rest.